Jerry Billing has passed away

[ThinkingManNeil]

For those who may not have heard and were familiar with his long career flying Spitfires, Jerry Billing passed away last month at age 93. Jerry was a veteran Spitfire pilot of the highest order, having flown over 250 combat missions with the RCAF in WW2, and then flying them for another 52-1/2 years in airshows all over the US and Canada, mostly in actor Cliff Robertson's Spitfire MK.IX. I was fortunate to see him perform many times at several airshows and always, always enjoyed watching his masterful displays of such a beautiful aircraft. I was also lucky enough to meet and chat with him following the initial post-restoration test flight of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum's Lancaster bomber, and was struck by his easy going manner and his deep love and respect for the Spitfire...

Some old video of Jerry doing low passes at his private airstrip in Essex, Ontario...




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[Tako_Kichi]

Yup it was a sad loss and he will be missed locally (I live in Essex County). My brother-in-law was a personal friend of Jerry's and he built and maintained Jerry's website for him.

[dhasdell]

A sad day. And those low passes make even Ray Hanna look a bit on the high side!

[Tako_Kichi]

A sad day. And those low passes make even Ray Hanna look a bit on the high side!

Apparently Jerry's mechanic was always complaining about the amount of grass clippings he had to pull out of the radiator after every display/practice!

[ThinkingManNeil]

One of the things I recall about that particular aircraft was its paint scheme; it wasn't exactly stock RAF Fighter Command. It was was given a high gloss finish that was kept well polished so that when it caught the sunlight it would glint brightly and dazzle. The underside of the aircraft was not the standard Ocean Gray or Mid Sea Gray but was actually a blue similar to that seen on WW2 Russian fighters such as Yaks and Lavochkin's.

Cliff Robertson apparently purchased this Spitfire - MK923, itself a D-Day veteran - after its appearance in the World War 2 epic, "The Longest Day". He had also wanted to purchase one of the Mosquito B.35's that had appeared along side him after he starred in "633 Squadron" but the deal never came to fruition...

Be a good looking scheme fir the RealAir MK.IX, eh?



Cliff Robertson's Spitfire in the care of the Museum of Flight in Seattle



Jerry Billings strapping into the Spitfire. Note Cliff's name stenciled on below the windshield

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